Elizabeth Warren spoke out today about the unfair advantage she says big companies have over small businesses in America, a playing field she declared was uneven even before the current recession.

“The problems facing small businesses today go well beyond the bad economy,” said Warren in a speech at the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce in Massachusetts.

Without the resources to hire lobbyists and lawyers to cozy up to Congress, small businesses don’t get a fair shake in Washington, she said. “Regulations in the United States are rigged to work for the big guys,” Warren said.

Washington isn’t helping. Instead of working on how to create a better environment for small business, Washington spent its energy on saving Wall Street banks that were to big to fail. There’s an old saying: ‘we all do better when we all do better,’ and nothing could be more true for small business. The decline in consumer spending, poor sales, and economic uncertainty have made it difficult for small businesses to thrive.